1. Technical Field
The invention relates to the field of sewer and conduit service and monitoring systems, and more particularly, to a system that can be deployed to remove plant roots and root systems that have invaded into a sewer pipe system.
2. Background Art
Sewer and conduit service and monitoring systems are used generally by maintenance and security operations groups for maintaining, diagnosing, repairing, and securing of tube and conduit systems. Generally, these sewer and conduit service and monitoring systems are utilized wherever human beings cannot physically go due to space or environmental considerations, where maintenance and security issues remain to be addressed by a remote operations staff.
The types of tasks addressed by sewer and conduit service and monitoring systems include, but are not limited to gas sampling, sewer or conduit integrity, security inspections in search of threats such as explosives, toxins, poisons, infectious substances, and general sewer system inspections.
The crumbling of infrastructure that most countries are struggling with today is increasingly affecting sewer and conduit systems creating a growing number of crises in both urban and rural locations. To address these described situations, increasing dependence is being placed on sewer and conduit service and monitoring systems. For example, a sewer system can be inspected to determine if it needs immediate attention, is being exposed to unwanted toxins, or is in general need of attention. A record of these findings can be made and used as a tool in the triaging of a city's entire sewer system to determine which areas are to be focused on in the near-term and to set a priority level for the remaining sections of the system.
It is often the case that during a sewer system inspection or maintenance activity, the sewer and conduit service and monitoring systems cannot get to all of the areas of the sewer due to plant roots that have invaded into the sewer system and thereby have blocked passage of the sewer and conduit service and monitoring systems, and possibly even the water or effluent that the sewer was intend to support.
Sewer root clearing systems are known and are used to address the problem of roots invading into a sewer system. For example, chemical foams can be used, such as RootX®, but they take time to take effect and have limited success with large roots. High pressure water or fluid systems can be used in some areas, but also have limited success with large roots. Mechanical cutting systems are deployed to clear roots from sewer systems, but are hampered by the breakage of parts and adjustment mechanisms therefore delaying or even halting the root clearing process.
One example of a mechanical root cutting system can be found in Patrick R. Crane's “Sewer Pipeline Hydraulic Root Cutter Apparatus,” U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,631. This root cutting system is fixed in configuration and does not allow for the modification of payload: for example, from root cutter to sewer inspection sensor. This places a burden on the operations staff to carry complete and separate systems for anything other than root cutting. Additionally, the apparatus of Crane is configured with multiple parts on the sewer skids, and skids that are mechanically attached and adjusted: leading to breakage or loosening of the skid. These problems then further delay the actual sewer inspection and maintenance that was required in the first place before the roots were discovered. What is needed is a root cutting system with far fewer parts and components that can cut roots and be redeployed for required maintenance and service operations.
However, such a sewer and conduit service and monitoring system has not been used in the field of sewer and conduit maintenance. There are numerous reasons for this nonuse, such as lack of an available apparatus with fewer parts and a design appropriate for multipurpose field use.
While the above cited references introduce and disclose a number of noteworthy advances and technological improvements within the art, none completely fulfills the specific objectives achieved by this invention.